Rapunzel's curse
by santana the strange
Summary: When Rapunzel's mother locks her away due to her curse, she turns to the magic in her blood.
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time there was a curse placed upon a handsome young man. For years he lived with this curse, hiding himself from the mortal plane so as not to harm anyone. And it happened that in the 21__st__ century a young orphaned woman, who dealt with magic, came across a way to break his curse…_

'And then they got married and lived happily ever after,' Rapunzel finished, reading the last of the book she had just been reading. It was her mother's diary from when she was a young woman. It spoke that she had broken her father's curse and that everything afterwards had ended just fine.

But it hadn't ended there. Her mother and father had created her, a beautiful child with long flowing golden hair. Her mother had named her Rapunzel after the stories she had read when she was a young girl herself. And every night her mother read to her the Grimm's fairy tales, telling her that they were based on truth.

Rapunzel had never believed her, until the day that her hair began to grow as long as the Grimm's Rapunzel's had. And then on that same day her mother had locked her away in one of the many towers of their castle. Rapunzel had never understood, not until she'd read the one tale that her mother had kept from her, and that tale opened up to her the reason why she had been locked away for so long.

For you see the witch that had cursed the handsome young man, had not only cursed him, but his entire line. So even though his curse was broken, his children be they male or female could still bare his curse too.

There was so many times that Rapunzel had found herself wishing that she'd never read the book, or that her mother had never met her father. But that didn't take away from the one thing she wished more than anything else in the world. She wished that she was normal. She wished that she could leave the castle, the tower for heaven's sake, and show herself to the rest of the world, but she couldn't. She shared her father's curse, one that she would share until her mate came to her.

She didn't realise that her mother was helping her, by keeping her from the other humans, she didn't realise that her mother only had the best intentions for her. Rapunzel felt that her mother was selfish and cared only what the public thought about her daughter and their family reputation. But the thing was, unbeknownst to Rapunzel, her mother was constantly using her magical heritage to divine the future for her daughter's mate. And then when she thought she'd succeeded she would invite the male to the castle.

Rapunzel's mother knew that only a man of magical heritage could bless her daughter, but she had never found one, in the eighteen years that her daughter had been alive. And she was growing increasingly helpless. Her divinations were off due to her stress, and her runes kept repelling her. She just didn't know how to cope. She spoke of this often to Rapunzel's father, away from the tower so her daughter would not hear.

Unfortunately for her parents Rapunzel was just as magical as her mother, and the curse that had been passed down her lineage allowed her to hear things from a very long way. She knew of her mother's plans her plots, her divinations and wanted to join the occult too, she could never tell her mother this in person. She was too afraid of how she would feel about that.

Rapunzel wanted to study magic, she longed to, but she didn't know if a cursed being could wield magic successfully or if it would just rebound onto their curse and intensify many times over.

'Mother has hid many things from me in my lifetime, including the world outside. And I will not hide this secret wish I have harboured for years. I will inform her of my wish to be included in her magic coven the next time that she comes to me,' Rapunzel decided and with a deep breath, as the moon went down, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Tomorrow she would tell her mother, but for now she would dream peacefully. For peace never lasted long.


	2. Rapunzel's surprise

When Rapunzel's mother arrived early that morning, in the likelihood to report her findings of yet another suitor, the daughter was still in bed.

'Rapunzel!' Her mother called out sternly, in an attempt to wake her and a groggy Rapunzel, opened her eyes, and sat up whilst attempting to rub the sleep out of her eyes. And as she spied her mother, her eyes opened wider and she jumped out of bed.

'Mother, can I speak to you about something?' Rapunzel asked, twirling her long golden hair around one of her fingers nervously. Would her mother even let her take part in the magic part of her life? If not, she would argue that she had inherited the magic and that it ran in her blood because of her mother. There could be no arguments against that. Surely!

'Rapunzel I have told you time and time again. Please do not argue with me on the idea of suitors. You know this is the only way for you to be normal,' her mother replied and Rapunzel shook her head. She didn't give a damn about suitors, she knew that she had to fall in love and have somebody love her for her become just a normal human being. She knew that, she really did, and she also knew that any children she would have would bare the same curse as she did.

A part of Rapunzel wished that she'd never been born; another part of her wished she'd never been cursed. And the biggest wish that Rapunzel held in her heart was to never fall in love. She knew that if she did, her fated mate would want to settle down and have a family. A family who would all be cursed just as she was. And besides Rapunzel had inherited her father's cursed strength too, so even if she did fall in love it was very possible that she could kill them with just a swipe of her…claws if she was enraged by them.

'No, mother I don't want to speak about the suitors, I know I need to find my fated mate. What I wanted to speak to you about was becoming a…witch,' she spoke quickly, and at her mother's intrigued stare Rapunzel quickly added, 'I want to join your coven mother, you and Auntie. Mother I have magic in me too and I know that I can help you. Mother you must know, I want to find an absolute cure for the curse that will continue to overtake my children if I ever am lucky enough.'

'Do you want to know something interesting Rapunzel?' Her mother asked and she nodded furiously. At least her mother hadn't said no, yet. 'When I was pregnant with you, it was not only the happiest months of my life daughter, but they were also the most magical,' she added as she claimed a seat beside her daughter and brushed her hair back from her face.

'What are you trying to tell me mother?'

'When I was pregnant with you my magic doubled, nearly tripled. I know you have all kinds of magic inside of you. I also wish that I could have cured you the way I cured your father, but you must find your true love. I will speak to your Aunt, and I do believe that between the three of us we can find an absolute cure. You will never have to worry about your own daughter being cursed.'

'Oh thank you mother,' Rapunzel said, jumping up and diving onto her mother to give her a huge hug. 'And mother, I will not argue with you in the way of suitors anymore.'

'You know I only bring those men here out of love for you. If I can't cure you with my maternal love I will help cure you by bringing your fated mate here,' her mother paused, and Rapunzel looked up to see her expression overcome with thoughts.

'What is it mother?' she asked.

'I found your father and through that I managed to fall in love with him and cure him. I found him through the tarot and the runes and all other kind of magical instruments, perhaps you could do the same,' she mused and Rapunzel's eyes opened wide. Tarots? Runes? Her mother would let her use magical instruments?

'But I don't have a set of either of those,' Rapunzel protested and her happiness seemed to wane. At least that was until a knock sounded at the door and the presence of her father cheered her up.

Rapunzel and her father had a father-daughter bond that was the greatest in all the land. He had been there all the time when she was a child. He had helped her learn to walk and talk and read and write. Her father had been her teacher in everything. There was no one in the world that had a better family bond than Rapunzel and her father. It could have something to do with the fact that she had inherited more from him than she had from her mother.

'Daddy!' she exclaimed and rushed over to him where he took her in his arms and threw her in the air. Yes she was a woman now and heavier than she had been as a child, but her father had retained the strength from his curse and therefore there was no one he couldn't throw in the air.

'Princess,' he said and held her tight to his chest and kissed the top of her head paternally. 'Did you tell her about the new suitor?' He asked over her head to her mother, causing curiosity to eat Rapunzel up. What was her father talking about now?

'No, I did not get round to talking about him at the moment. Rapunzel, our daughter, has finally come to the decision that she wishes to be a witch,' her mother said and her father smiled wide as Rapunzel thought: finally! She could have asked earlier? She had waited all these years for no reason?!

'That is such good news. I can finally show her the trap door,' father said and Rapunzel's' brow crinkled. The east tower had a trap door? Why was she only hearing about this now? Then he turned back to her. 'Your cards and runes and everything else you could ever possibly need for your magic is down this trap door,' he said moving a rug out of the way and heaving open a little square door that lay on the ground.

Rapunzel peered deep inside and although it was dark, her beastly curse meant that she could see deep through the dark and what she saw made her squeal in joy. There was an alchemy table, a large alter with a book of shadows, candles, potions, her cards, her runes and magical amulets.

'This is more than I could ever have wished for,' Rapunzel let out, feeling as though her birthdays and Christmases had all come at once.

'Well get down there and check everything out, be responsible with the magic though, you must be careful not to do something that will bring you pain and consequences. I have highlighted the spells you can use,' mother said and hugged the father tight as Rapunzel lowered herself into the room below.

'Be downstairs in an hour honey you can meet the suitor then okay?' Her parents asked and she nodded. Sure thing…


	3. Rapunzel's exploration

When Rapunzel made her way into the darkness below she found her mother had left many small wax candles lying on an altar for her to use. This altar contained a pack of Tarot cards, a silk bag that appeared to hold runes, and a metal pentagram, of which took up most of the room in the centre of the altar.

Out of the many things that she found there on the table, she found herself most drawn to the Tarot cards, and as she reached out a hand to gather them up, she sensed a great bolt of energy race through her veins. It could have been natural energy; it could have been the power that her mother spoke of that all witches had within him or herself. Either way Rapunzel was overcome with fascination and took the cards out of the pack.

Shuffling the cards as she had seen her mother do when she was a younger girl, Rapunzel sensed less power coming from them, and felt as though she was being drained of something. Did she have power too? Was she truly a witch as her mother was? She did not know but she began to read anyway. Her question was about the suitor and what he was truly doing here, was he after the chance to win her heart or was he just here for the large dowry her mother had sent out to attract such suitors? If the latter be true then Rapunzel would refuse to meet with him, for no fated mate of hers could be so greedy as to want her just for her dowry. After all fated mates were supposed to hold many things in common and Rapunzel was not a materialistic girl by any stretch of the imagination.

For the past she drew the five of pentacles a.k.a discs and found that through looking at it she was able to relate it to her question. Pentacles, and discs related to money and wealth, it looked to her as though this suitor was either really wealthy or he was just after her dowry. For the present she drew the lovers, a card self explanatory, at least it was the right way up. Hers was reversed showing hatred. And for the future she pulled the death card right side up. Now the thing she discovered about the death card was that it wasn't physical death, yet death of something within someone to make them stronger. It was the ultimate transformation card. This of which made Rapunzel wonder, could this speak of me, and will I be rid of my curse soon? These questions were of her own hopes, wishes and vanity for she knew she could not read for herself. The ultimate transformation was for her suitor.

Who was her suitor? Was he cursed as she was? And if so what did he look like, what did he become? Or was it just a mental change, a change in personality? Rapunzel wished she knew the answer, but as it was she had no clue whatsoever. And she knew she only had a little time left before her mother or father came to get her.

So she ignored her reading and decided that she would take a look around her at what other things this beautiful little secret room hid for her. She had longed to be a witch for her entire life and now that she had everything she needed to continue her inherited talent and power, she didn't have the time.

She had began to walk away from the altar when something caught her eye. It was a glimmer, a glint, what was it? As she made her way to the altar once more she found that the glint came from a small little silver box, which carried the emblem of the pentagram on it. Opening the box she found herself looking at a crystal on a piece of thread. It reminded her of the one her mother had always worn around her neck, but for the fact that this crystal was actually attached to a piece of blue thread instead of red. Her mother's elemental power had always been fire, even Rapunzel noticed that, but Rapunzel had always had an affinity for water surisingly enough, and the blue thread here was an indication that her mother had known this when she'd been a child.

Water, purity, cleansing, healing. Why couldn't her element help her with her curse, why couldn't it heal her? But she already knew the answer, she had to fall in love, she had to find her fated mate. Was he this suitor who had come for her today? Or was it someone else? Why did her mother have such trouble finding the fated mate? Was Fate wanting Rapunzel to suffer because her frather's suffering had ended? Did Fate envy the love that her parents had? What did he want from the world? She wondered as she took the scrying crystal in hand and placed it around her neck. As soon as she did, the crystal appeared colder around her neck. But as it was water could become ice and ice could become water.

Rapunzel had always preferred the cold to the warmth and now she knew why, she was a water elemental. Could she use this water for her own gain or would she have to use it to cleanse and heal others? It was the way her mother had always done it. So perhaps she should use it to heal others? Perhaps if she did that then Fate wouldn't punish her so.

The thing about Rapunzel was that she was naieve, having never stepped a foot out of her castle she didn't know what people were like out there. And every suitor that turned up at her door, she prayed he was different to the rest, but she had no idea that men and gods alike were all the same. They had the ability to be cruel and the ability to love, though the former could overshadow the latter very easily if one was not careful. And they never were.

And as she stood there wering the scrying crysatl and in a kind of daze, she began to wonder what her own fated mate would be like. Would he be kind, would he be considerate and careful? Would he be of magical heritage, would he care for her need to be magical? Would he care for the fact that she was a witch at all?

Yes there had been a stigma following witches in the past and Rapunzel knew that magic was supposedly gone in the 21st Century, yeah along with the stigma, but Rapunzel had so many magical beings around her,l so many witches, vampires, werewolves, that she knew magic was far from dead. It was more alive than it had ever been before.

But choosing to focus more on the suitor waiting for her downstairs, Rapunzel took a steadying breath and made her way back to the tower, and then at that moment in time she was called down by her mother and father. That steadying breath did nothing for the anxiety that ramped up by ten times her usual rate. Even having to meet other suitors she was never this nervous and now she felt as though she could hardly breathe as though there was something to fear.

Shaking her head in disbelief at her crazy thoughts she told ehrself that her mother would never let a dangerous suitor into the castle, and if she ever underestimated one and he did try to attack Rapunzel, that was where Auntie Usha came in.


End file.
